I like the standards like Jorge Ben, Tim Maia, Marcos Valle, Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento, etc. I'm also into late-70s, early-80s disco and boogie/post-disco like Painel de Controle, Junior Mendes, Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti, and the 80s work of the masters I mentioned earlier.
Congrats for this amazing thread, with so many great pics! Thanks for sharing these excellent tips. I love MPB, Bossa Nova and Tropicalia, being my favorites: Tom Jobim, Vinicius, Jorge Ben, Caetano, Chico, Elis, Mutantes, Tim Maia, Gil, Joao Gilberto, etc. My first visit to Brasil was in 1995, I visited Blumenau and bought a Milton Nascimento LP sealed (those were the days!) Then my wife and I went for honeymoon to RJ in 2007 but only bought CD's. In 2011 I was in SP but only visited a couple of old and messy places, quite high prices so I just bought a couple of LPs. Now I'll have to go there again to check your tips for myself! Side note: are those Maia's Racional Lps reissues? Made from needledrops? I learned that those originals are pretty rare and the masters no longer exist. What about Tom Ze records, easy to find? I guess those are pricey as well... Até!
Let me know how your future trips turn out. Yes, those Tim Maia Racional LPs were originals. The real deal. At the time I was there, they wanted R$1000 for each. Whoa!!! Would love to add those to my collection. Actually, any Tim Maia from the 70s is going to be pricey. At least $250-$500 depending on title and condition. So far I don't have any of his stuff on vinyl. But I will get to his stuff one day. As for Tom Zé, I am not very familiar with his work, and so I didn't keep an eye out for his stuff while there. Not sure what his vinyl goes for exactly.
I will! I cannot recomend you enough Zé's Estudando O Samba...a true classic. Perfect mix of MPB and experimental, genius stuff. I'd love to put my hands on an original Racional Vol. 2...someday...
I went to see my sister-in-law get married to a guy from Sao-Paulo back in Spring 2017. We spend several weeks there meeting his family, wedding & reception. Never thought about checking out local record stores (as I wouldn’t get another TT until that Summer). How did you get all those records back to the states? Darryl
You'll have to see the stores next time. I hope this thread gives you some ideas. The airline (American Airlines) allows 1 stow away bag in the overhead compartment and 1 that has to fit under the seat in front of you. Luckily, I was able to make this work and all my records stayed with me. All my other stuff (clothes, books, souvenirs, etc) went into my wifes checked luggage. We always bring back as much stuff as we can. On the 2016 trip we brought back 9 bags and a cat. Now that was an ordeal.
Not to burst your bubble, but five years ago I found an original Secos y Molhados in my local thrift store in the southwestern US for $1. Then again, I don't have the dozens of albums you snagged in Sao Paulo and never will. Also, don't be too rough on the Polysom reissues. I spent a pretty penny on a couple of them (Gal Costa - Gal, Lo Borges debut) and they sound great. Undoubtedly, the originals likely sound a lot better, but what can you do - fly to Brazil and buy originals? Not likely, in my case at least. The bass frequencies being summed thing is only the very lowest frequencies, any mid or upper bass sounds exactly where you'd expect them to be in the stereo soundfield. Honestly, I doubt that most CD versions sound as good as the Polysom LP reissues. It's not fair to compare them to 4 Men w/ Beards, IMO.
Wow! Now that is awesome. Good for you. Good condition? I gotta say finding any original vinyl here in the US in the wild like that is pretty rare. At least in my experience. Though, I have been lucky a few times. Last year I was in Asheville, NC for a concert and checked out the three records stores there. From what I read online, Harvest Records was supposed to be the place to shop in Asheville. But their international/world music section was basically junk. In fact, I wasn't impressed with anything in that place. The only saving grace was that I found a copy of Laura Nyro - Live At The Bottom Line. So I moved on to the other spots there. At Static Age Records, I found an Elba Ramalho album. Now we're getting somewhere. But my all time best Brazilian Vinyl find in the wild so far occurred at the 3rd and last place in town, Voltage Records. In their world music section I found: Milton Nascimento - Geraes (1976) Maria Bethânia - Pássaro Da Manhã (1977) Chico Buarque - Meus Caros Amigos (1976) Beth Carvalho - Nos Botequins Da Vida (1977) Miucha & Antonio Carlos Jobim - Miucha & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1977) $12 each. All of them NM originals, beautiful vinyl and beautiful covers. The only imperfection was that the previous owner, "D. Sharp", had signed his name on the covers in small print with a ball point pen. IMO, $60 was a steal for all these. Perhaps, I went overboard with the 4 Men with Beards comment. Fair enough. It's nice to hear from someone else who has heard the Polysoms. I welcome more opinions on those from anyone else here.
Thanks for this cool thread! Glad you had such a great time here and found so many records! I have to correct you on this one though... That is not Galeria do Rock! That is Galeria Nova Barão. Next time make sure you visit Disco Sete there and talk to the owner, Carlinhos. Super nice guy and very knowledgeable. "Galeria do Rock", officially Shopping Center Grandes Galerias, is a couple blocks away, a much bigger shopping mall. On its heyday, it had more than 100 record stores! Today there are about 20 left, but most of them sell CDs only. One exception is Baratos Afins. They tend to overprice their vinyl, but you should defientely pay a visit next time! They are still open, in fact they have just celebrated their 40th anniversary! 4 Men with Beards sometimes gets it right. My Blow-Up soundtrack and Big Star 3rd are really great. Now Polysom I was never happy with any of their reissues that I've heard. Usually good pressing quality (clean, flat, centered) but they all sounded lifeless to me. Any early CD version, like PolyGram's "Série Colecionador" for instance, will sound much better.
Ah, thanks for correcting me. So many places, I think I cited all the rest correctly. Thanks for your thoughts on Polysom as well. I see Elemental is reissuing a Jorge Ben album. Anyone have any thoughts on their reissues?
No problem! If next time you decide to take a gamble on Polysom LPs, just don't get them from Livraria Cultura! You can get those for R$ 85 -R$ 95 at other stores, Locomotiva Discos (at Galeria Nova Barão) for instance.
Loving this thread, great stuff Does anyone know how the Mr. BOngo reissues stack up against the originals and the Polysom reissues? Classic Brazilian – Mr Bongo USA
Thank you for taking the time to do this, Cokelike. Am in Sao Paulo this week - first time in two years. This list was really helpful, especially for finding some of the spots near Teatro Municipal, which yielded quite a few finds. There's enough stores in that area to keep prices honest, and I even got a decent deal on the white Caetano Veloso album, original edition.
I am " gaucho'(extreme south of Brazil), but when i goes to work at SP i alwayes goes to Baratos e afins to buy some records..since i was a kid.
Oh man, I would go crazy record shopping in Brazil! I was recently in Lisbon, Portugal and, not surprisingly, there was a lot of Brazilian music available for sale there. While in Barcelona on the same trip, I took a chance on the Spanish reissue of this 1969 Brazilian LP, and it turned out to be an excellent album:
I'll be arriving in São Paulo tomorrow afternoon for McCartney's concerts next week, but by coincidence Gal Costa will be performing tomorrow evening, so I bought a ticket. Just thought the OP would like to know, since he's a fan. Thanks for the record store recommendations, by the way. I had visited some of them and wrote down the addresses of the ones I wasn't aware of.
That's awesome! Have a great time at the show! Let me know how it goes. Also, would love to hear about your vinyl finds on your trip, which stores, what records.
Just got back from her concert. Not only it was excellent and in a small, intimate venue (less than 700 people) but it was also the second night of filming for her next DVD.
I'll bet it was excellent! On her Facebook page, she posted a setlist. Did you really get to hear her sing "Vaca Profana", "London London", "Que Pena" and "Volta"? Man, I am so envious! Meu deus, "Volta"... How about your records, what did ya get?
Yeah, I heard all those great songs and got some really nice Beatles-related records thanks to your store recommendations!
